Cutter assemblies for cutting extrudate have in the past been associated with electrically-driven motors. Such a cutter assembly will rotate about a fixed shaft mounted to the extruder and the coupling to a motor for rotation may be via a spool attached to a belt driven by the motor, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,529, or via a universal drive connection that is itself coupled to another drive. Such assemblies are cumbersome because of the space occupied by the electric motor, the associated coupling means, and the framework necessary to support the motor unit.
An object of this invention is to provide means for rotating a cutter blade that may be integrated into the cutter assembly to thereby save space and facilitate maintenance of the extrusion apparatus.